Hawaii Blog

I’m exhausted. My body is aching. My mind is spinning. But with “LOST,” these are good things. Tonight brings the Season 6 premiere, but I’m still thinking about the last few days. The “LOST” beach premiere on Saturday was fantastic, but I most cherished spending time with the fans and friends who joined my wife [...]

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This morning, Pierre Omidyar’s local news startup Peer News hosted a conference call with journalists to provide an update on their venture, which was first announced in November. Among the key announcements made was that John Temple was coming aboard as editor, and that they were planning to launch by April or May. The company will [...]

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While the mainstream, corporate media is still struggling to find its footing in the digital age, grassroots online news initiatives everywhere are putting down roots. Citizen journalism and independent media are near and dear to my heart, so I’m always interested when a new venture is launched here in the islands.
The Hawaii Independent is not [...]

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In October 2005, the members of the HawaiiThreads.com message board were asked about their “Christmas Wishlist.” Though the first answers ranged from “world peace” to kitchen appliances, local activist and big-hearted gadfly Lynn Vasquez-Dela Cerna had a simple answer. “I do have something to wish for,” she wrote. “I wish for all the children of [...]

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It was one year ago that local designer Valentino Valdez unveiled his customized Twitter T-shirts. They’ve now become an icon of local Tweetups and tech events, and have been snapped up by Twitter addicts the world over. This morning, “Black Friday,” Valentino has unveiled the VALDEZign Store. And to celebrate the occasion, he’s offering $5 [...]

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A new Internet startup poised to transform local news, in Hawaii and beyond, is now on the hunt for an editor to lead the team. Renowned entrepreneur Pierre Omidyar, founder of eBay and philanthropist, announced the search today.
Instead of sending out a press release, he posted a link on Twitter to his blog post:
We are [...]

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Hawaii is finally included in the “Street View” of Google Maps. The news was announced today in a great post on the Official Google Blog by one Laura Melahn, Product Marketing Manager, who says she was born and raised on Oahu. She links to Waimea Bay and Iolani Palace. There’s even a specially curated collection [...]

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From friend and cybrarian Shari Tamashiro comes word of a new resource dedicated to native Hawaiian plants. Native Plants Hawaii — a joint project between Kapiolani Community College and Leeward Community College — aims to be a comprehensive online knowledgebase of the endemic and indigenous plants of Hawaii.
Native plants flourish with much less water than [...]

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Meet Bobby Gorgeous. The five-year old white Pomeranian from Aiea is competing in the “Cutest Dog Competition,” which is offering a million dollar prize. His “fashion mentor” Guylynn Gia is trying to drum up votes, and pledges to share the winnings with the Hawaiian Humane Society, Malama Na Honu (a Hawaiian sea turtle protection group), [...]

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Renown digital photographer and videographer Vu Bui (of The Bui Brothers) is returning to Honolulu as part of a “photo fusion” mini-tour. He’s going to be spending a week on Oʻahu shooting photos and videos to teach people what they can accomplish with the most basic gear. And the kickoff event is an entry-level new [...]

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